Groove Tubes GT-57

This mic is a pretty standard large diaphragm condenser made by Groove Tubes. They are usually known for their nice guitar amp tubes, but they recently have put out a few respectable mics and preamps. This mic is not actually a tube mic as you might think, but it is a standard FET circuitry mic. This has a switchable polar pattern to make this mic more useful. You can set it to be a standard cardioid, to a figure 8 bi-directional pattern, and to an omni pattern. The mic capsule is side address. You also get a low frequency roll-off switch with the filter set at 75Hz which is nice to reduce rumble and some plosives. In addition there's a 10dB pad in case you're miking a screamer. It connects to your preamp with a standard XLR cable. It comes with a nice aluminum case for storage.

OVERALL OPINION

I got this mic a few years ago because I wanted to expand my selection of large diaphragm condensers. You can never have enough of them! I was at first disappointed with the sounds I was getting, but I did eventually find some good uses for this mic. I wouldn't really recommend it for lead vocals. I find the highs to be a little bit brittle sounding, so that the delicate breathy top end of vocals that should normally sound very good are somewhat ruined by this mic. I will say though that miking a guitar amp with this mic has worked out very well for me. I usually combine this mic with a dynamic that is set on the grill of the amp for a very full guitar sound. I also have used this on a trumpet, and that sounded pretty good. This is definitely not the best condenser around, but it is pretty good and definitely gets used a fair amount in my studio.